Conventional arrangements for collecting and removing waste water from drying apparatus such as hand dryers are well known from, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,944. Waste water is collected via a duct or similar and transferred to a drip collector for subsequent manual removal. Such storage of waste water is unhygienic, may lead to the spread of bacteria and requires regular maintenance to empty the drip collector and maintain a sanitary environment.
The addition of an antibacterial water absorption sheet with a large surface area to encourage evaporation is known from JP 11-18999 A. This counters some of the problems of bacterial infestation and results in less frequent emptying of a water collector. However, waste water is still present in the hand dryer for longer than is desirable, and maintenance is still required.
An alternative arrangement involves the evaporation of the waste water through use of a thermal source. This can also be used in conjunction with a stream of air. These techniques are known from JP 2002-345681A. The use of electrical components often means that, when these components require maintenance or replacement, the machine will have to be repaired by a trained engineer. This is time consuming and results in the machine being out of action for a significant period of time. This is inconvenient and potentially costly for the consumer.